


More Obvious Than Snogging

by silver_etoile



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Oblivious Merlin, chair stealing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-20 21:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14270220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_etoile/pseuds/silver_etoile
Summary: It starts with a stranger in his seat, but Merlin's sure that isn't where it ends. He's going to prove to Gwaine that he can make friends without his help, and this seat-stealer might be the perfect candidate.





	More Obvious Than Snogging

Merlin was late, later than he should be on a test day. It wasn’t his fault. After all, he’d only woken up twenty minutes ago, face down on the coffee table with his notes spread all around him. He’d barely had enough brain power to throw on clothes that belonged to him and not to Gwaine and throw himself out the door of their flat.

Merlin yanked open the door to the lecture hall, trotting down the few rows of steps to his typical spot. He was almost too busy checking that he’d remembered to bring a pencil to notice that something wasn’t quite right.

And that something was, rather, a someone, someone sitting in his spot.

For a moment, Merlin stared down at the bloke sitting in what was clearly (and had been since the beginning of the term), his chair.

“Excuse me,” Merlin said as he stood there and the guy didn’t even look up at him. After a second, the stranger turned to look at Merlin, a question on his face.

Merlin was almost 100% positive he had never seen this bloke before in his life and he’d come to this class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since September. Not once had he ever seen this man’s carefully-coiffed blond hair, chiseled jaw, and abnormally blue eyes. Merlin was fairly sure he would have remembered someone this good-looking. But that fact didn’t excuse whatever he was doing in Merlin’s spot.

“Yeah?” the guy asked as Merlin stared down at him, his pencil clutched in his hand, the other wrapped around the strap of his book bag.

“You’re in my spot,” Merlin said, blunt, and it sounded dumb even to him as he said it, and he knew it did to the bloke too as he raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, okay?” the guy replied, like it meant nothing.

Frustrated, Merlin huffed. He didn’t really have time for this. The test would be starting in just a few minutes and he needed to mentally prepare himself, and he couldn’t do that if he arguing over a chair.

“Would you mind moving?”

The guy seemed to scoff, a tiny laugh under his breath, as if Merlin was asking for the world.

“No,” he said. “Just sit somewhere else.”

“Okay,” Merlin said, raising the pencil and pointing it at the bloke. The other seats were beginning to fill up around them with more people Merlin had never seen. Where were they all coming from? How did they expect to pass if they never attended lecture? “This is my spot. I’ve been sitting here since the beginning of class.”

“I didn’t realize there was assigned seating.”

Merlin knew, he just knew, this guy was doing this on purpose. Being a jerk for no reason.

“There’s not,” Merlin had to admit, gritting his jaw. “But I’ve been here all year, and you can’t just show up for a test day and sit wherever you want.”

“Pretty sure I can,” the guy said, running a hand through his perfect hair.

Merlin was running out of time. The professor had walked up to the podium and was shuffling the stack of tests with an uptight precision.

“Look, if I don’t sit in my usual chair, it’s gonna throw everything off,” Merlin said, hoping maybe he could appeal to this guy’s sense of empathy, if he had any. “And if I fail this test, I’ll fail the class, then I’ll fail out of Uni and have to go back to Ealdor and work in a cafe for the rest of my life. And I don’t want to do that. So could you please just move?”

The guy stared up at him for a moment but shook his head after a minute and Merlin felt his hopes crash and burn in his stomach.

“Switching seats is not going to kill you, mate,” he said, looking away from Merlin.

Merlin didn’t know what to say and the hall was filling fast. For a moment, he wondered if simply staring down this new student would work, but as the professor cleared his throat, it became obvious he was only wasting his time.

With a huff, Merlin strode back down the aisle and down a few rows to an open seat nearer to the front than he normally preferred. Sitting down, he frowned at the hardness of the chair, the way the tray stuck as he pulled it out.

With a glare over his shoulder at the bloke, who seemed utterly unaffected, Merlin pushed down the annoyance throwing him off. He couldn’t let that affect him. After all, he did need to pass this test and some idiot who only showed up for test days wasn’t going to be the reason he didn’t pass.

*

“How was the exam?” Gwaine asked, adding far too much sugar to his coffee. Merlin didn’t bother commenting on how he was going to die of heart disease at age thirty at this rate.

“Awful,” Merlin replied, leaning back in his chair and watching people walk past the window of the cafe. It was a gloomy day, the sky dim, a persistent mist in the air.

“What do you mean, awful?” Gwaine demanded. “I stayed up all night helping you study. I skipped going to Percy’s match for you.”

“All you were gonna do was stare at his arse,” Merlin pointed out, but Gwaine shook his head.

“Besides the point. Don’t tell me you failed this test.”

Merlin sighed, twisting his cheap paper cup on the table. “I don’t think I failed. I just… Something threw me off.”

He wasn’t going to tell Gwaine about the bloke. It would be pointless and Gwaine would only rib him about it. As if all his problems were caused by guys.

“Well, in the future, if me helping you is going to be pointless, let me know. I’d much rather spend the time staring at Percy’s ass.”

“Not sure Percy would appreciate that.” Gwen appeared at their table, her apron tied with a perfect bow in the front and coffee pot in hand. “Would you like some coffee to go with your sugar, Gwaine?”

“Please.” Gwaine pushed the cup towards her and Gwen filled it up.

“It wasn’t pointless,” Merlin argued. “The exam was just… harder than I thought.” Merlin wasn’t great at lying, but neither Gwaine nor Gwen seemed to notice today.

“Maybe you need to find someone from your actual class to study with,” Gwen pointed out.

“Merlin?” Gwaine asked with a laugh. “Make friends in class? How long have you known him, Gwen?”

“Two years,” she said, and Merlin sighed. This wasn’t going to reflect well on him.

“And how did you meet?”

Gwen opened her mouth and paused. “I don’t… I don’t know. Didn’t you introduce us?”

Gwaine smirked and took a sip of his coffee. “I was hooking up with your brother in first year, and you met Merlin, I don’t know, four times, I think, before you actually spoke to each other.”

“Why do you remember that?” Merlin muttered. So he wasn’t great at making new friends? So what? He had friends and that was what mattered. He may not have been a social butterfly like Gwaine who could make anyone like him within five minutes of meeting them, but he liked the friends he had.

“I choose to remember embarrassing facts about others, for my own benefit, of course.”

“Of course,” Merlin muttered.

“Merlin’s shy,” Gwen said with a shrug. “That doesn’t mean he can’t make new friends.”

“Can’t, true,” Gwaine agreed. “Won’t is another story.”

“I could make friends if I wanted to, okay?” Merlin said. “I just don’t need to.”

Merlin was perfectly satisfied with the friends he did have, although Gwaine was on thin ice here, especially when he opened his mouth next.

“I don’t know how you’re ever gonna hook up with anybody if you don’t talk to them.”

“I’ve had boyfriends,” Merlin argued, although he didn’t know why he was arguing. Gwaine knew almost everything about him.

“Two,” Gwaine said, finishing his coffee. “And one you knew for six years before you dated, before you both actually admitted you liked blokes. And the other was an accident.”

“It was not an accident.” Scowling, Merlin hunched down in his chair, knowing full well he was about to be proven wrong.

“Oh, come on,” Gwaine said, shaking his head. “You didn’t even know you were dating Gilli until three weeks in.”

“I thought we were friends.” Merlin didn’t know why he was arguing. He could never win this argument with Gwaine or anyone else.

“Sure, friends who go to the movies and out to dinner and take walks in the park.”

“We do all of those things,” Merlin pointed out, gesturing between himself and Gwaine.

“But I don’t try to kiss you out by the lake.”

“It was a… I…” Merlin huffed and looked away, out the window. “I could date somebody if I wanted to date somebody.”

“We’re not saying you can’t,” Gwaine said simply. “Just that you won’t.”

Merlin glanced at Gwen, who shrugged. “I have to get back to the counter. Freya’s getting busy.”

So much for her support. Okay, so Merlin was socially inept. It wasn’t that uncommon, especially these days when most people didn’t know how to talk outside of a phone.

“I could always set you up,” Gwaine offered, like he often did after one of these conversations. Merlin wasn’t sure why they had this conversation so much, but he supposed talking about class wasn’t exactly stimulating. “Percy has plenty of rugby mates. Buff, fit, tanned. Tiny shorts.”

As appealing as tiny shorts were, Merlin didn’t fancy the idea of going out with some bloke who could barely remember his own name let alone Merlin’s.

“I think I’ll stick to my methods,” Merlin replied, pushing his empty cup away.

“Alright,” Gwaine agreed, sitting back. “Just let me know when you figure out you’re dating someone next.”

Rolling his eyes, Merlin didn’t reply. Dating wasn’t his top priority at the moment. Getting through Uni was and avoiding the inevitable pull back to Ealdor where everyone seemed to end up was a bigger issue at the moment, no matter how much Gwaine or anyone else seemed to think.

*

Merlin was on time to class today, probably because he’d slept in his own bed instead of cheek to the coffee table. His spot was blissfully empty, as it should have been. In fact, only half of the hall was filled with students, like it usually was except on exam days. 

Settling into his seat, his glorious, perfectly-positioned seat, ten rows back from the front, on the left-hand side of the auditorium, six seats in from the aisle, Merlin pulled out his notebook and his favorite blue pen. He was ready to forget about that awful exam day last week and start over.

“You’re in my seat.”

A voice above him made Merlin’s head snap up, his stomach sinking as he caught sight of the same bloke as before, wearing a collared shirt that had to be unbuttoned one too many buttons for a reason, and it was probably the golden skin underneath.

“This isn’t your—”

“I’m just taking the piss,” the guy interrupted, but Merlin was still surprised when he sat down in the seat next to Merlin’s. The guy had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbow, and Merlin let his eyes wander up his forarms for a second as he tried to figure out what was going on.

“Have you decided you’re in this class now?”

“I’ve been in this class a month and a half,” the guy said, smiling for the first time at Merlin. He had a very nice smile, too nice. A little crooked, a little too self-assured for Merlin’s inner voice that screamed something else was going on here.

Merlin didn’t reply to that, turning to face the front, frowning at his pen. What was this bloke doing?

For a second, Merlin thought maybe that was it when the guy said nothing else. Maybe he’d just sit quietly through the lecture and Merlin wouldn’t have to think about him again.

“Look,” the guy said after a minute, and Merlin’s hopes were dashed. “I wanted to apologize about last week, and the whole chair thing. I was just being stubborn.”

Eyebrows furrowed, Merlin glanced over. The guy seemed sincere. There was no smirk at the corner of his lips and he met Merlin’s gaze easily.

“Oh.” Merlin didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected to ever see the guy again, let alone get an apology.

“I’m Arthur, by the way,” the guy, Arthur, said when Merlin said nothing else.

“Merlin,” Merlin muttered.

“I’d say stubborness was one of my more appealing traits, but most people wouldn’t agree,” Arthur went on, either oblivious to or ignoring Merlin’s taciturn responses.

Merlin wasn’t really sure why Arthur was here or talking to him at all.

“I don’t think anyone would call stubborness an appealing trait,” he said finally because it seemed as though Arthur was waiting for a response.

“And what would you call an appealing trait?” Arthur asked, a smile in his voice, and Merlin frowned. 

“Silence.”

Arthur laughed, soft and easy, and Merlin glanced at him. He knew what Gwaine would say if he were here, that Arthur was flirting, but that couldn’t be it. No one ever flirted with Merlin. Even Gilli, whom he had dated for several months in second year, had never really _flirted_ with Merlin.

“I’m afraid that is not in my repertoire,” Arthur replied.

“Well, then I guess we can’t be friends,” Merlin said, and Arthur nodded slightly.

“So I should find another seat?”

Merlin hesitated, Gwaine’s rib about not being able to make friends coming back to him. He shrugged finally. “Lecture’s starting.” The professor was down at the podium, trying and failing to load the powerpoint as usual.

“Guess I’m stuck then,” Arthur said, and Merlin nodded.

“Guess so.”

He sneaked a glance at Arthur as the professor finally got the first slide up. Merlin was perfectly capable of making new friends on his own and he was going to prove it to Gwaine.

*

Merlin had had the same best friend from age four to age sixteen when Will had decided he liked girls more than Merlin, or maybe he just liked sex more than he liked playing video games with Merlin. A part of Merlin couldn’t argue. The few times he’d had sex had been pretty awesome, but not awesome enough to abandon his friends.

Gwaine had been a fluke, someone too outgoing for his own good, who would chat up a shrub if it looked good. When Merlin had met Gwaine that year before Uni, when Gwaine had barreled into him in the school hallway, knocking his books out of his hands, a cascade of heavy, sharp objects onto his feet, Merlin had been sure they wouldn’t end up friends, but somehow, they had.

Maybe it was that Gwaine was persistent in annoying Merlin that first year of their friendship, maybe it was that Merlin hadn’t had anyone else to talk to since Will had left him in pursuit of Vivian Rockwood, or maybe it was because when Gwaine had found out Merlin was gay, he hadn’t stopped talking to him. Instead, he’d slapped him on the back and said, “Me too!”

Whatever the reason, Gwaine was Merlin’s best friend, for better or worse, but that didn’t mean Merlin enjoyed stepping over his gross socks in the living room and finding condoms in the couch cushions. 

“I thought you were chasing Percy,” Merlin said, grimacing as he threw away the condom and immediately washed his hands.

Gwaine made a face from where he was perched against the kitchen counter in their tiny shared flat. The whole thing smelled a bit like dirty laundry no matter how often Merlin cleaned.

“It’s not going exactly like I planned.”

“You mean, walking up to him and saying, ‘Let’s hook up’ didn’t work?”

“If he gets any thicker, I might have to,” Gwaine replied, and Merlin shot him a look. Gwaine was not known for being subtle.

“I thought you liked’em thick.”

Gwaine laughed. “Oh ho, somebody’s got a sense of humor today.”

Merlin shrugged. 

Gwaine turned to where Merlin stood on the other side of the counter at the sink. “You think I should just say it?”

Merlin arched an eyebrow. “Are you seriously asking me for advice about guys?”

Gwaine blinked. “You’re right! Wow, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Okay, so there’s this party tonight, and Percy and the rugby team will be there. How about we go and I just jump him?”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Merlin drawled, and Gwaine either didn’t catch the sarcasm or ignored him (Merlin guessed it was the latter) because he pushed himself away from the counter.

“Exactly. So put on your best skinny jeans. We’re going to a party.”

Merlin sighed as Gwaine headed for his room. Merlin really hated parties.

*

There was not enough alcohol in the world to make parties fun, Merlin found himself thinking as he pressed himself against the wall of someone’s house to escape being trampled by a group of girls. He absolutely hated these things, the awkward lingering, just outside of people’s conversations, wanting to leave but he couldn’t because if he didn’t stay at least an hour, Gwaine would complain he never did anything fun.

Merlin made his way to the kitchen instead. At least with a drink in his hand, he wouldn’t look so sad. 

He hadn’t seen Gwaine since they’d arrived and Gwaine had thrown himself into the mosh of people, looking for Percy. He suspected he wouldn’t see him again tonight unless there was some off-chance that Percy really didn’t like him.

“Merlin!”

Merlin was greeted unexpectedly as he reached the kitchen and ran into Arthur, the last person he’d expected to find here. Or rather, he hadn’t even thought about the possibility that Arthur might be here.

“Arthur,” he said, eloquently, as he stumbled to a stop before he could run into the open fridge door.

Arthur shut the fridge, leaning against it as he took in Merlin. Merlin wouldn’t say he’d dressed up for the party, but he had put on a clean shirt and attempted to fix his usual mess of hair into something cooler. He wasn’t sure he’d succeeded.

Arthur, on the other hand, looked as pretty as ever. Merlin grimaced as he thought it. Arthur wasn’t pretty. He was just a guy. Just a guy who happened to look incredible in a tee-shirt that was probably a little too tight over the chest.

“This is the last place I would have expected to see you,” Arthur said when the silence started to become awkward. “At a rugby party.”

“Well, what are you doing here?” Merlin asked, glancing around the kitchen for the drinks. He was going to need something to drink if he was going to make it through this party.

“I play rugby,” Arthur said, like it should have been obvious. And maybe it was considering how fit Arthur was.

“Oh, right,” Merlin muttered. He spotted the bottle in Arthur’s hand and nodded at it. “Any chance there’s more of those?”

“Yeah, sure,” Arthur said easily, yanking open the fridge again and grabbing one out. Turning to the counter, he cracked the top off and handed it to Merlin. As Merlin took a swig, Arthur crossed his arms, leaning back against the fridge. “So what are you doing here?”

The beer tasted like piss but Merlin drank it anyway. “My friend dragged me,” he admitted. It wasn’t as if he’d wanted to come. He didn’t have to pretend.

“Who’s your friend?” Arthur leaned in closer and Merlin turned to the kitchen, leaning against the cupboards.

“Gwaine.” He doubted Arthur knew him.

Arthur paused a second. “That’s that guy with the really shiny hair who comes to all the games, right?”

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed, surprised. “He’s kind of a little in love with Percy.”

“Really?” Arthur asked, sounding curious, and Merlin wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. After all, there was a still a stigma in sports about being gay. Fuck, there was a stigma in everything.

“Uh, yeah, but, I mean, Gwaine falls in love every other day,” he muttered into his bottle, avoiding Arthur’s gaze. He didn’t even know if Percy liked blokes, or if Gwaine was just projecting because Percy was hot. It was impossible to tell sometimes. Merlin had fallen for too many straight guys himself.

“Right,” Arthur agreed, and Merlin nodded slowly. “So you and Gwaine haven’t ever…”

“What? No, God no,” Merlin said abruptly, shaking his head, making a face. “Not that he’s not good-looking, it’s just, I know way too much to ever want to do that.”

“Aw, you think I’m pretty.”

Merlin jumped at Gwaine’s voice behind him. Turning, he glared at Gwaine’s shit-eating grin. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know you don’t want to fuck me.” Gwaine bounced around Merlin to Arthur, eyes grazing down him, and Merlin purposefully looked away. “I’m Gwaine.”

“I got that,” Arthur said, glancing at Merlin. “I’m—”

“No need for introductions,” Gwaine interrupted. “You’re Arthur Pendragon. Team captain. Tell me, is Percy seeing anyone?”

Arthur hesitated, and Merlin wished, for once in his life, that Gwaine would stop talking.

“I actually don’t know,” he replied. “We don’t really talk about that.”

Gwaine frowned. “Do you at least know where he is?”

“I think I saw him upstairs earlier.”

“Then I’m off,” Gwaine said, slapping Merlin on the shoulder. “Don’t stand in a corner all night, okay?”

Merlin rolled his eyes in response as Gwaine left, but he didn’t argue. Arthur watched him go then took a drink of his beer.

“So that’s your friend?”

Merlin nodded. “Also my flatmate. So there’s no escaping.”

Arthur laughed, sweeping his hair back. Merlin wondered how he managed to make disheveled look good. Merlin always looked like a five year old when he rolled out of bed in the morning.

“Well, I can keep you out of corners if you need,” Arthur offered and Merlin made a face.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with corners. They’re quiet.”

“And dark,” Arthur added, but when Merlin glanced at him, he didn’t look as if he’d said anything strange. “You need another drink,” he said as Merlin swigged what was left in his bottle.

He didn’t protest as Arthur pulled one from the fridge. It was actually not terrible, he thought, standing here talking to Arthur. Maybe parties weren’t all bad when you had someone to talk to.

“Here’s to annoying flatmates,” Arthur said, raising his bottle. “You’re not the only one that has one.”

Smiling, Merlin clinked his bottle with Arthur’s and took a drink. “What’s your annoying flatmate story, then?”

Arthur shook his head. “Let’s not darken the evening with that. I say we get a glass and some idiot undergrads and play a game of Ring of Fire. How’s that sound?”

“Like a terrible idea,” Merlin said, and Arthur grinned. 

“Exactly.”

Merlin didn’t stop Arthur as he opened cupboards in search of a glass, and merely smiled into his beer when Arthur came up successful and dragged him toward the living room.

*

Light streamed in through the gap in the curtain, falling exactly across Merlin’s eyes and Merlin grimaced as he woke up, his mouth dry, a dull thud in his temples as he rolled out of the line of fire. Blinking at his ceiling, he sighed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d drunk that much in one night, and he blamed Arthur entirely.

It took Merlin another ten minutes to drag himself out of bed and into the living room where he immediately collapsed on the couch.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Gwaine greeted him from the other end of the couch where he was eating a bowl of cereal and wearing only his boxers.

Merlin’s head was too mushy to put things together this morning, so he grunted. “Shouldn’t you be at Percy’s this morning? Or did things not go according to plan?”

“It would appear that our dear Percy has an exam on Monday, so he left early to study.”

Merlin glanced at Gwaine. Gwaine didn’t look too disappointed, but Merlin could read between the lines, and the fact that the TV wasn’t even on cartoons this morning was one clue.

“You’ll get him,” Merlin said, unable to think of anything else.

Gwaine raised an eyebrow. “Of course I will. Who said otherwise?”

“No, I just, I mean-,” Merlin floundered for a second. He wasn’t good at this. Gwaine didn’t usually have a problem getting guys. Merlin was the one who needed help in that department.

“How was your evening with Arthur?” Gwaine asked, saving Merlin from looking like a complete idiot.

“Fine,” Merlin said, pulling his legs up onto the couch. Gwaine glanced at him for a moment but didn’t say anything else, changing the channel to cartoons instead.

It had been fine. It had actually been fun, if Merlin admitted it. It was nice to have friends that weren’t just Gwaine and Gwen and Lance. People who didn’t know how shy he was. People who didn’t make assumptions about what he might do or not do depending on the situation.

“It was fine,” he muttered again, as if he wasn’t sure Gwaine believed him, but Gwaine said nothing, eating his cereal and watching Wily Coyote get flattened by an anvil.

*

“You made it.”

Merlin glanced over as Arthur sat down beside him. It was strange, having someone beside him.

“You’re the one who missed the first six weeks of class,” Merlin pointed out, and Arthur ignored him.

“I meant last weekend. You were pretty smashed when you left.”

“I don’t normally drink that much,” Merlin admitted, flipping his notebook open. He never brought his laptop to class. It was far too distracting with the internet at his fingertips, as if it wasn’t always at his fingertips on his phone, but at least without a laptop, he couldn’t click to a new window and open up Facebook.

“So I’m just special, then.”

Merlin actually caught himself smiling at Arthur’s smug statement.

“You just make people want to drink,” he said and Arthur scoffed.

“You wouldn’t be the first to say that.”

Merlin wasn’t sure what that meant, and he didn’t want to ask, so he shrugged. “So have you decided you’re actually going to come to class now?”

“Where else would I be?”

“Wherever you were the last six weeks.”

“Mostly sleeping in,” Arthur said, twirling his pen in his fingers. “Occasionally being woken up by my flatmate grinding coffee at six AM.”

“Do you even know what this class is about?” Merlin had never understood why people would pay for university and then never attend. It just didn’t make sense. But then, Arthur, by the looks of things, wasn’t hurting for money. He had brand name clothes and when he sat this closely, Merlin could smell a cologne he recognized from the expensive stores he occasionally wandered into for no reason other than to feel bad about himself. Why else would he go in when he couldn’t afford anything there?

Arthur’s arm brushed against Merlin’s as Arthur reached for his bag, digging out a book. “The Economics of Big Business.”

“That’s the title of the textbook,” Merlin allowed.

“It’s a class about formulas and business strategies, and everything my father has tried to teach me since I was six,” Arthur said, putting the book away. “Except now in a painfully boring lecture format, though this one does at least have slides.”

Merlin watched Arthur rummage in his bag for a moment, shoving the book in deep. “Sounds like you don’t want to be here.”

Arthur straightened up and shrugged. “It’s fine. Although I probably should have studied for the exam.” He paused as the seats around them filled in. “Maybe we could meet up sometime, do the homework together.”

“Yeah, sure,” Merlin heard himself saying. See, he told himself. He could make friends. Without Gwaine’s help. Without having to meet them four times.

“Great,” Arthur said, turning to the front. “So how was the hangover on Sunday?”

“It was fine,” Merlin replied. It had been fine, after a couple aspirin and some large glasses of water.

“Really?” Arthur asked, a cheeky tone to his voice. “’Cause you were almost stumbling out of there.”

“Then you should have been a gentlemen and insisted I stay,” Merlin pointed out.

Arthur smiled. “It wasn’t my house or I would have.”

“Well, next time then,” Merlin said, and Arthur nodded.

“Next time.”

*

Freya was talking to Gwen when Merlin stepped up to the counter of the cafe, shaking off the rain from his coat.

“You don’t think it’s too fancy for an interview?” Freya asked Gwen, showing her something on her phone.

“No, you should look professional. Dress for the job you want, they say,” Gwen replied, flashing a smile at Merlin. “Hey, Merlin. Your usual?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, and Freya tucked her phone away. “What are you interviewing for?”

“It’s an assistant job at a TV production company,” Freya said with a shrug, but she looked nervous. “I’m gonna be done with Uni soon. Time to get a real job.”

“This is a real job,” Gwen pointed out as she made Merlin’s coffee. “It’s just not a good paying job.”

Merlin wasn’t listening, scanning the cafe for a familiar head of blond hair. There Arthur was, already installed at a table by the window, a cup of coffee steaming in front of him and hands messing with his phone.

It was a little strange to be meeting someone who wasn’t Gwaine or Gwen, Merlin thought as Gwen handed over the coffee. New.

“Thanks,” he said as he headed for Arthur’s table. He set the cup down and Arthur’s head lifted before he could say hello. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Arthur replied, sweeping his books out of the way. He tucked the phone away as Merlin slid onto the opposite chair. “You ready for this?”

“God no,” Merlin replied but he pulled out his book anyway. Economics was surely not his strong suit, but he had to take the class to finish his business courses.

“I thought you loved this class,” Arthur said, a little bit sarcastically. “You have your own spot.”

“I have a spot in all my classes,” Merlin said, sipping his scalding coffee. “Whether I like them or not.”

“So if I go to all my classes all the time, I could be as uptight as you?”

Merlin scoffed. “Keep dreaming.”

Arthur laughed, pulling out his laptop and opening it up. “I prefer my method anyway.”

“What? Just show up on exam days and hope you pass?”

“It’s worked for me so far,” Arthur replied. 

“Lucky you.”

Arthur glanced at him but didn’t say anything. Merlin wished it was that easy. Not go to lectures, sleep in every morning, not have to take pages and pages of notes just to keep up. If only.

“Alright, so what is this homework about exactly?”

Merlin pulled up the syllabus on his phone, scanning to the weeks’ homework. Before he got there, however, he was interrupted by a new voice behind him.

“Arthur?”

It was a girl, well, a woman around their age, and Merlin swore he saw Arthur’s jaw clench for a second at her voice.

“What are you doing here?” the woman asked as she approached the table, and Merlin got an eyeful of shiny brown hair and bright green eyes, sharp as they looked from Arthur to Merlin. Girlfriend, perhaps? “I thought you said you were studying.”

“I am studying,” Arthur said, a little slower than necessary. “With Merlin.”

The girl turned to Merlin, holding out a perfectly-manicured hand. “Hi, I’m Morgana.”

Arthur rolled his eyes slightly, and Merlin frowned. “Morgana is my—”

“Sister,” she finished for him, and Merlin’s stomach unclenched slightly.

“Half-sister,” Arthur muttered behind her. “Merlin’s in my economics class.”

Morgana turned towards him, gaze shrewd. Merlin didn’t have any siblings, and he’d always imagined life with siblings to be much more civil and friendly than the look Arthur was giving Morgana.

“Isn’t that the class you called ‘gut-wrenchingly boring’ and said that you’d rather drill your own eyes out than sit through another one at the beginning of term? You said you’d rather fail out of the class than give Uther the satisfaction of a passing grade.”

Arthur glared at Morgana. “Yes.”

“Oh, well, you two have fun,” Morgana said, tone bright and cheery again, turning to Merlin. “It was lovely to meet you. Arthur, don’t forget to pick up milk on the way home. We’re out.”

Merlin watched Morgana leave, her hair swishing across her back. He looked back at Arthur, who seemed relieved she was gone. “So she’s…”

“My flatmate, yes,” Arthur agreed. “And my sister. And a pain in the ass.”

Merlin nodded. “Gwaine’s not looking so bad right now.”

Arthur barely cracked a smile. “She’s not all bad. She just… You can’t tell her anything. She just files it away and finds some way to use it against you in the future.”

“I always thought it would be fun to have a sibling.”

Arthur clicked his tongue. “Media lies about siblings.”

Merlin glanced out the window but Morgana was long gone into the drizzling rain. “Who’s Uther?” he asked after a second.

Arthur didn’t look up from his laptop. “My father—our father. He practically forced me to sign up for this class, which is why I haven’t been to it all year.”

“How could he force you?”

Arthur bit his bottom lip as he stared at his laptop. “He has plenty of ways.” Glancing up, he seemed to force whatever thought he’d been having out of his head, and smiled at Merlin. “Should we get started on this homework?”

Merlin wanted to ask why Arthur was coming to class now when he obviously hated it, but he didn’t. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that, so he opened his phone and pulled up the syllabus instead.

*

Merlin heard the door shut behind him as Gwaine came home, dropping his bag on the floor near the door. He didn’t look up from his laptop, working on an essay for his philosophy class. He’d been trying to work on it for hours, but for some reason, he just couldn’t focus properly.

Gwaine huffed as he collapsed in the chair, sweeping his hair back.

“How was class?” Merlin asked his screen, and he heard Gwaine’s noise of discontent. “How’s Percy?”

“Elusive,” was all Gwaine said, and Merlin looked up finally.

Gwaine was sprawled over the chair, legs over the arm, his phone out, scrolling through something.

“Can’t you just, I don’t know, message him you’re into him?” Merlin had no experience in these matters. Gwaine was far better versed in asking people out.

“Percy’s not on social media.” Gwaine sighed and dropped the phone in his lap. “He’s not on Facebook. He’s not on Instagram. He’s not even on Snapchat.”

“So no disappearing dick pics?”

“No.” Gwaine sighed again. “All my usual methods have fallen by the wayside.”

“Can’t you just hit on him in real life?”

“I do! But he just blushes.” Gwaine shook his head. “I don’t know what else to do aside from sticking my hand down his pants.”

“That might work.”

“Or he might freak out.”

“Never stopped you before.” Merlin wasn’t sure why Gwaine was so obsessed with dating Percy. As far as he could tell, Percy was like every other guy Gwaine had dated, for lack of a better word.

“Percy’s better than a hand in his pants.”

Merlin arched an eyebrow but didn’t reply, returning to his essay. He heard Gwaine shift on the chair but paid no attention.

“How about you? Anybody ask you out lately?”

“No,” Merlin replied. He hadn’t really talked to anyone aside from his usual friends and Arthur. He supposed maybe he could count Arthur as a friend now? After all, they’d hung out outside of class. That was what counted, right?

“Merlin, I don’t want you to die alone, you know, surrounded by cats.”

“I probably won’t,” Merlin said, though he wasn’t entirely sure he could promise that with the way his love life had gone so far in his life.

“Probably,” Gwaine repeated, and Merlin didn’t reply. That was the operative word.

*

The professor was already at the podium, struggling to pull up the internet browser and Merlin kept glancing back at the door. The seat next to him was empty, and he wasn’t sure why it made him feel anxious. Since Arthur had started coming to class, Merlin found he enjoyed this class a lot more. Looked forward to coming to it, even.

The professor finally got YouTube up on the screen, the video already playing with no sound as he frantically clicked on all the buttons to get it to pause.

Glancing around quickly, Merlin pulled out his phone. He normally tried to keep it put away during class or he simply wouldn’t hear any of the lecture, but he pulled up Arthur’s name in his text messages.

_Where are you? Class is about to start._

He clicked send and jumped at a ping right next to him. Arthur was there, pulling out his phone as he slid into the seat next to Merlin. He smiled at the message and leaned over to Merlin’s ear as the professor started speaking.

“Had a meeting with my adviser this morning. Ran long.” Arthur’s mouth was close enough to Merlin’s ear that he could feel his breath on his skin.

“You missed another professor struggling with technology.”

Arthur bit back his smile and shook his head. “That’s what we pay for, isn’t it?”

Merlin smiled. “I thought it was to learn stuff, but apparently not.”

“Shh!” A girl in the row in front of them shushed them and Merlin grimaced.

Arthur ignored her, though, leaning in again and lowering his voice. “There’s a rugby match this weekend. I was thinking you should come. Bring Gwaine. Percy will be there.”

Merlin wasn’t sure Gwaine was too interested in another failed attempt at getting Percy to like him, but it couldn’t hurt.

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed, ignoring the way the girl glared at the two of them this time.

Arthur only smiled in reply, patting Merlin’s arm before turning to the front. His arm prickled where Arthur had touched him, but Merlin turned his thoughts from it with only a little difficulty. No one ever touched him, so he couldn’t help his reaction. Instead, he focused on the professor who now couldn’t figure out how to hook up the sound to the speakers in the room.

*

“Tell me again why _you_ , Merlin, want to go to a rugby match?” Gwaine asked for the third time as they walked towards the field. “I get that it’s hot guys in tiny shorts, but you’ve never wanted to go before.”

“Arthur invited us,” Merlin said, shrugging. “And Percy will be there.”

“Wait, are you helping me get guys now?”

“No, I’m just… giving you a nudge.”

“A nudge,” Gwaine repeated, as if he was particularly deaf this afternoon. “The guy who literally can’t tell when people like him is giving me a nudge.”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Merlin pointed out. “You can just ignore Percy and enjoy the tiny shorts. I’m going to.”

Gwaine laughed as they reached the edge of the field. The teams were milling on either side of an invisible line. Arthur waved at Merlin as they arrived.

“See, there’s Percy.” Merlin nodded across the field to where Percy loomed a head above everyone else. Gwaine wasn’t looking at Percy, but Merlin instead. “What?”

“Nothing.” He looked away, over at Percy.

Frowning, Merlin shook his head. Gwaine didn’t always make sense, and he’d learned just to ignore it. “Should we get a seat?”

There were bleachers set up on the side of the field and people were already filing into them. 

“Yeah, okay,” Gwaine agreed, but his gaze lingered on the field as they got a seat. It was a chilly day, and Merlin was glad he’d brought his extra warm scarf as they sat on the cold metal bleachers. Gwaine shoved his hands in his pockets and nudged Merlin’s shoulder. “So Arthur invited you?”

“Us,” Merlin corrected him. He hesitated. “I kind of told him that you liked Percy.”

“When did you do this?” Gwaine asked, his voice going up in disbelief.

“At that party,” Merlin admitted. “I kind of said it without thinking. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Gwaine assured him, leaning forward and watching Percy talking to Arthur. “Maybe it’s good. Maybe he’ll help get it through Percy’s head.”

“I still don’t understand why you don’t just snog him.”

Gwaine smiled slightly. “That’s rich coming from a bloke who wouldn’t be able to say two words to someone he fancied, never mind snog him out of nowhere.”

“I-I could,” Merlin protested. “And I can talk to guys I like.”

“Who was the last one?”

“Gilli.”

“Gilli was your boyfriend before you even knew it.”

Merlin talked to Arthur, although was just his friend, but he liked Arthur. Arthur was smart and funny and a little egocentric, but he asked for Merlin’s help with the homework, and told him personal things about his family. Merlin totally talked to him. It counted.

“Match is starting,” Gwaine said, which was helpful since Merlin actually had no idea how rugby was played. He supposed it didn’t really matter when they all got into that circle (scrum, Gwaine told him) and he got a very nice view.

As oblivious as Merlin was to sports, he thought Arthur’s team played pretty well. There were a lot of painful-looking collides, mud and blood and dirt flying everywhere. By the time it was over, Merlin had no idea who had won, but he knew for sure he never wanted to play rugby.

“We won,” Gwaine said, hitting his shoulder and standing up to yell with the crowd. Merlin clambered to his feet, watching Arthur high-five his teammates. He was covered in dirt, sweat dripping down his temples, hair no longer perfectly disheveled. Merlin caught himself smiling as he watched Arthur celebrate. “Come on,” Gwaine said beside him, leading him down the stands.

On the field, everyone seemed bigger even if they hadn’t been that high up. Arthur jogged over, grinning at Merlin.

“What’d you think?” he asked and Merlin shook his head. 

“It looked violent.”

Up close, Arthur was even more disheveled, but in a good way, Merlin thought, like he wasn’t trying to look good. He just did. Arthur’s eyes were bright, his hair sticking to his forehead, his smile wide. Merlin felt something strange deep in his stomach as they stood there.

“Good game, mate,” Gwaine said and Arthur nodded.

“A few of us are gonna go to a pub if you guys want to come.”

“Yes,” Gwaine said swiftly, before Merlin could even consider the offer. “Yes, we would love to come.”

“Great.” Arthur licked his lips, hands on his hips. “Well, we’re gonna shower and change, then we’ll be over at Pike’s Pub.”

“We’ll be there,” Gwaine said as Arthur turned and jogged back to the team.

“We’re going to a pub with a bunch of rugby guys?” Merlin asked. It wasn’t exactly his idea of a fun Saturday night, but at least Arthur and Gwaine would be there. So he wouldn’t be totally alone with no one to talk to.

“Percy will be there.”

“He didn’t say that.”

“He will,” Gwaine said firmly, and Merlin had no choice but to believe him. After all, Gwaine understood this much better than he did.

*

Percy was there, along with Leon and Owain, and a few others Merlin hadn’t quite caught when Arthur introduced them. Merlin was squeezed into the booth next to Arthur, everyone already on their third beer of the evening. Merlin felt pleasantly light and he didn’t protest as Leon went to get yet another round for the table.

Everyone seemed a little drunk tonight, but in a good sort of way, a happy way, laughing and reliving the match.

Across the booth, Gwaine was pressed up against Percy, whispering things in his ear, and Percy’s face was flushed red, from the alcohol or Gwaine’s words, Merlin wasn’t sure.

“Looks like Gwaine’s finally getting there,” Arthur murmured in Merlin’s ear. His breath was warm and soft against his skin.

Merlin nodded, watching Gwaine smirk into Percy’s ear. “He’s been trying for a while.”

“Percy’s a good guy,” Arthur said as Leon returned with the drinks and everyone cheered.

Merlin wasn’t really a pub person. He never had been, but aside from Lance and Gwaine, he hadn’t had many friends who would have wanted to go to a pub, and he wasn’t sure he would have wanted to anyway. But this was nice. It was different. It was better than some party where the music was too loud and he only knew one person.

“Maybe he’ll finally get lucky and stop complaining,” Merlin said, and Arthur huffed a laugh against Merlin’s neck.

“Yeah.”

Merlin didn’t move away from Arthur. It was comfortable here, the alcohol slowing down his thoughts, making him warm and tired at the same time. He never wanted to move.

“So you’re not seeing anyone, are you?” Arthur asked after a minute instead of listening to Owain and Leon discussing the match for the hundredth time.

“No.” Merlin shook his head, blinking against the swish that came with it. “No.” He didn’t know why everyone cared so much about his love life. It certainly wasn’t interesting. “I think I’m a little drunk.”

Arthur smiled, his leg pressed up against Merlin’s, and it was warm and tingly through his jeans.

“Everyone is.”

“You know, I usually hate pubs and parties and everything,” Merlin admitted, turning towards Arthur, “but this has been fun.”

“I’m glad,” Arthur replied, reaching up and brushing Merlin’s hair from his eyes. Merlin followed it with his own hand. He couldn’t pull off disheveled like Arthur could.

Leaning back, Merlin closed his eyes for a second. He felt tired but content at the same time. He’d never felt that way before in a pub surrounded by strangers. It was almost like, with Arthur, it didn’t matter that there were other people around.

It was another round of drinks before people started leaving the pub. Merlin wasn’t sure he could walk all the way back to his flat, though the fresh air would probably do him good, so he let Arthur pull him up from the booth and head for the front door. Gwaine was still in the booth with Percy, and Percy seemed to lean in just as Merlin ran into the door.

“Careful,” Arthur said, guiding Merlin outside. The cold air hit him like a blast in the face and he stumbled on the pavement.

Arthur had an arm around his waist and held him steady for a moment.

“I’m fine,” Merlin assured him, tugging his jacket tighter and turning to face Arthur. He’d had more drinks than he usually did, and he was sure that Arthur wasn’t as steady as usual either with the way Arthur smiled at him, swaying a little.

“I’m sure you are.”

“I have to walk home,” Merlin said with a sigh, and Arthur nodded.

“You gonna be okay?”

“I’m fine,” Merlin said again, sucking in a deep breath. He wasn’t that drunk. Just happily drunk.

“Yeah, you’re fine,” Arthur agreed, and he was in Merlin’s space, his hands anchored in Merlin’s jacket, his face too close to Merlin’s, and Merlin felt his heart seize up a second before Arthur’s mouth was pressed to his.

Merlin didn’t do this, snog blokes when he was drunk, but it was mostly because he’d never had the opportunity. He might have if he’d had the chance. He didn’t do this, but he was doing it, kissing Arthur back, his mind confused and cloudy, too caught up in the feel of Arthur’s tongue in his mouth to wonder why this was happening. They were drunk, his mind decided as Arthur pressed closer, licking into Merlin’s mouth, sliding his hands up his jacket to bracket his face. Arthur’s hands were cold against Merlin’s cheeks but Merlin didn’t care.

They were drunk, and that was why Arthur tilted his head, pulling at Merlin’s bottom lip with his teeth, the kiss wet and lazy and making Merlin’s heart throb in his chest.

They were drunk, and that was why Merlin’s hands reached for Arthur, pulling him in closer until they were pressed together, warm and soft against the chill of the air around them.

They were drunk, and that was why Arthur’s hand tangled in Merlin’s hair as he kissed him, Merlin’s lips tingling.

They were drunk, and that was why when they pulled away, Arthur laughed and Merlin smiled and licked his lips, his heartbeat thrumming against his throat, nervous, confused, excited.

“I have to get home,” Merlin said again, and Arthur nodded again.

“I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed, and he took a step back, the moment falling away. Arthur merely smiled as he turned away, heading the opposite direction.

With Arthur gone, it was cold again, and Merlin shoved his hands deep in his pocket as he turned from the pub. Smiling to himself, he wandered down the sidewalk. Going to pubs was a good idea, he decided. After all, what was a drunken kiss between friends?

*

Gwaine wasn’t at the flat when Merlin woke up the next morning, with far less of a hangover than last time. In fact, Gwaine didn’t show up until one in the afternoon, practically waltzing into the flat as Merlin watched him over the back of the sofa.

“Take it you had a good night,” Merlin said as Gwaine grabbed him in a backwards hug.

“I had a very good night,” Gwaine said. “Did you know Percy thought I was just being an idiot?”

“No,” Merlin drawled, sarcastic, but Gwaine ignored him. “So once you stopped blatantly hitting on him and actually talked to him…”

“He agreed to go out with me. Well, after last night.”

Shaking his head, Merlin turned his attention back to the television.

“What about you?” Gwaine asked, plopping down on the couch beside Merlin. He was happier than Merlin had seen in a while. “You seemed to be having a good time with Arthur.”

“Yeah, he’s nice.” Merlin didn’t mention the kiss because in his opinion, it wasn’t worth mentioning. They’d been pretty drunk. He wasn’t even sure he remembered it properly. He just remembered Arthur’s lips and his hands and the blur of his face so close.

“Isn’t this a miracle?” Gwaine asked, but Merlin didn’t ask what. He didn’t want to know what. Now that Gwaine was happy with Percy, he was sure he’d be hearing all about their sex life, whether he wanted to or not.

“Sure is,” he agreed instead.

Gwaine sighed happily beside him, and Merlin was happy for him. After all the time Gwaine had put into this, he deserved a little bit of happiness. Now, if only Merlin could find that.

He dared not mention it to Gwaine, though, or he’d be sure to get inundated with set-ups with people Gwaine knew, and not everyone Gwaine knew was good quality.

No, he’d just keep going on his own. It was bound to happen sooner or later… Right?

*

“Hey,” Arthur greeted Merlin as he took his usual seat—he had a usual seat now. Merlin was almost proud.

“You’re early.”

“Well, Morgana did the whole grinding coffee beans at six AM again, so thought I might as well get up.”

“You got up before seven in the morning?” Merlin asked, incredulous, teasing. “I don’t believe it.” He supposed they weren’t going to talk about the kiss. He supposed they didn’t need to really. And if Arthur was fine ignoring it, he would too.

“Believe it,” Arthur said. “I even watched a morning talk show.”

“Who are you?”

“I don’t care, as long as it’s not my father,” Arthur replied. “He gets up at five-thirty for breakfast tea then a work out, then he’s in the office by seven-thirty because he thinks it’s useful to make employees feel guilty for being on time.”

Merlin hesitated as Arthur spoke. “Did something happen with your dad?”

Arthur shook his head and sighed. “Just normal crazy Pendragon family stuff. Nothing new.”

Merlin didn’t reply, and Arthur grimaced.

“I told my dad I didn’t want to go for a Masters and wanted to finish this year with a Bachelors degree. Let’s just say, he didn’t like the idea.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yeah, well, when my dad says, ‘do something,’ you do it.”

“I’m sorry.” Merlin was not good at this, comforting people. He hesitated a second before placing his hand on Arthur’s arm.

Arthur shook his head. “It’s fine. Really. After all, he’s paying for Uni. That’s why I’m in this stupid class. He threatened to stop paying if I didn’t take it.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re in this class,” Merlin said and Arthur smiled at him.

“That’s two people.”

Merlin took his hand back, fiddling with his pencil.

“Hey, you want to get a coffee after this? I think we’re gonna need it.”

“Sure,” Merlin agreed as the professor stepped up to the podium. He seemed to have given up completely on technology this time and simply started his lecture.

*

The cafe was fairly empty for nine in the morning, but Gwen was behind the counter, refilling straws and cleaning the cappuccino machine.

“So,” Arthur said, using a tiny straw to stir his coffee, “this might be a weird question, but are your parents paying for your tuition?”

“It’s just my mum, and she puts in what she can. Otherwise, I’m going to be very much in debt by the time I get out of here.”

“What does your mum do?”

“She’s a nurse in Ealdor, which is this really tiny town up north.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”

“Most people haven’t.” Merlin nodded. “And for good reason. There’s not much there. I was definitely the only gay kid for a long time until secondary when it suddenly became okay. Actually, it was around the time Gwaine moved there and he beat anyone up who called me or him out. So that helped.”

“He’s a good friend.”

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed. “I haven’t had too many, but he’s been one of the better ones.” Will had never spoken up for Merlin past year eight and he’d completely ignored him their last year together.

“Percy seems to like him, now that he’s calmed down a little.” Arthur smiled over his coffee, and Merlin nodded.

“He can be a little much, but he knows a lot more about dating than I do, so I listen to him. Even if he is occasionally annoying about it.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Gwen stepped up to their table at that moment, holding her pot of coffee. “Refill?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Arthur said.

“Arthur, this is my friend, Gwen,” Merlin introduced them. “Gwen, this is Arthur. We’re in that economics class together.”

Arthur glanced at Merlin as Gwen smiled.

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” she said brightly. “Merlin talks about how much he hates that class all the time.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Arthur assured her and she smiled.

“Well, I’m glad you finally made a friend in class, Merlin,” she said, refilling his cup even though he hadn’t said yes. “You need someone besides Gwaine to help you study.”

“Thank you,” Merlin said, deadpan.

“Enjoy your coffee,” she said with a look at Merlin.

As she left, Merlin turned back to Arthur. “She thinks I can’t meet people without Gwaine’s help.”

Arthur shrugged, sipping his coffee. “We’ll just have to prove her wrong.”

Merlin smiled as he lifted his cup. “I guess so.”

*

Now that Gwaine was dating Percy, Gwaine was around a lot less, or Percy was around a lot more. Either way, Merlin didn’t mind. He liked Percy especially if it meant finding less condoms around the flat. They mostly kept to the bedroom and Merlin was not complaining.

“We’re going to that Battle of the Bands thing tonight at the Smelter Pub,” Gwaine said as he dug around in the cupboards for a clean glass. “You should come with us.”

Merlin watched Gwaine fill the glass with water and drink the whole thing standing in the tiny kitchen.

“I can’t. I’m supposed to go over to Arthur’s flat and do the homework for Econ.”

“You’re choosing homework over terrible music and half-price pints?”

“I am,” Merlin said simply.

“At least Arthur will be there,” Gwaine rationalized. “So it’s not like you’re completely choosing homework over me.”

“It’s not…” Merlin didn’t see the point in arguing, so he cut himself off. “You and Percy have fun.”

“We will,” Gwaine assured him. “And if you want to come, it starts at eight.”

Merlin shook his head. He had no desire to blow out his eardrums listening to untrained musicians.

“Your loss.” Gwaine set down the glass and grabbed his keys off the counter. “I’ll see you later. Text me if you’re gonna come.”

“Bye.” Merlin let him leave, the door latching behind him. He was perfectly content to stay in, do some homework, and hang out with Arthur.

In fact, he should have probably been thinking of heading over there. As he got up from the couch, his phone rang in his pocket.

“Hello?” he answered even though he could see it was Arthur calling.

“Hey, it’s me,” Arthur said, and it sounded like maybe he was outside from the wind buffeting the phone. “I know you’re supposed to come over to mine, but Morgana’s friends are over, and to be honest, they are kind of scary, so I was wondering if we could just go to your place.”

“Uh, yeah,” Merlin said, glancing around. The place wasn’t exactly clean, but it wasn’t hugely messy at the moment either. “We could do it here.”

“Perfect,” Arthur said, sounding relieved. “I’ll be over in fifteen. Text me the address.”

“Yeah, okay,” Merlin agreed, hanging up and grimacing at the socks scattered over the floor. Fifteen minutes wasn’t much, but he’d do what he could.

*

By the time Arthur knocked on the door, the socks had been shoved in Gwaine’s room and the dishes were at least piled in the sink instead of all around the flat.

Merlin let Arthur in, hoping he wasn’t judging the tiny-ness of the flat, a kitchen crammed against the living area and too much furniture for the small space, but Arthur said nothing.

Merlin rarely had people over that weren’t Gwen or Lance. Gwaine had people over all the time, but that was different. Those were Gwaine’s guests.

“So you’re scared of Morgana’s friends?” Merlin asked as Arthur sat down on the couch and Merlin joined him.

“Not scared of,” Arthur corrected him easily. “I said they were scary. They’re like Manhattan career women except they don’t live in Manhattan and they’re not career women. But they have that aura. Like they could castrate you, and would castrate you, simply with a look.”

Merlin could see that, even though he’d only met Morgana once. “I can see why you thought here would be better.”

“It’s much quieter here,” Arthur said, glancing around. “Is Gwaine not in?”

“He and Percy are going to some band thing at a pub. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Arthur smiled, and Merlin felt that same fluttery feeling in his stomach, like a bunch of cliched butterflies. He wasn’t sure what caused it except that it was for sure Arthur’s smile.

Merlin tried not to think about how good-looking Arthur was because they were just friends. He tried not to think about how his skin tingled every time Arthur touched him. He tried not to think about a lot of things, and most of the time it was easy, but not when they were alone like this with nothing else to distract him.

“So, the homework,” Merlin said when the silence started to stretch.

“Homework,” Arthur repeated, pulling out his book and his laptop. “I gotta say, I will not be sad to finish this class.”

“I don’t think anyone would disagree with you,” Merlin said, flipping his book open. Arthur scooted over on the couch, closer, and Merlin took a deep breath. Just friends.

“What chapter is it?” Arthur asked, reaching over Merlin to flip the pages in his book.

“Thirteen, I think,” Merlin said, leaning back.

Arthur glanced at him and smiled. “Unlucky number.”

“Yeah,” Merlin said, squelching down the way his heart did a little flip. He didn’t know why he was nervous now. He had never been nervous before around Arthur. Maybe because they were alone. Maybe because there were no distractions to stop Merlin from thinking about Arthur kissing him that night.

_Drunk!_ he told himself firmly. They’d been drunk, and they hadn’t spoken about it since. He and Arthur were friends. That was all.

“You okay?” Arthur asked as Merlin tensed beside him.

“Fine,” Merlin said, jerking as Arthur’s hand landed on his shoulder.

“You sure? You feel really tense.”

“I’m always like that,” Merlin assured him.

“You could relax,” Arthur said. “Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“Yeah, I know,” Merlin told Arthur, and also himself. They weren’t drunk this time. There wasn’t going to be another kiss, even if Merlin might have wanted one.

“Okay,” Arthur said, but he didn’t drop his hand, and Merlin’s face tilted towards Arthur’s somehow.

Arthur’s eyes were so blue, Merlin found himself thinking as he stared at Arthur, and his face seemed to get infinitesimally closer as neither of them spoke.

The door burst open, to both of their surprise. Merlin jerked back, and Arthur’s hand disappeared from his shoulder as Gwaine strode in.

“Oh, hey,” he greeted them. “Need to change my jacket. It is freezing out there.”

He disappeared in his room, and Merlin turned towards the coffee table, avoiding Arthur’s eyes. That would have been bad, if Merlin had done something stupid like kiss Arthur. Very bad. Then Arthur would know that he liked him.

Gwaine reemerged with a different jacket, shrugging it on. “You two kids have fun tonight,” he said as he left again, the door latching behind him.

“He always has perfect timing,” Merlin muttered, and Arthur huffed out a laugh. “We should probably get back to the homework.”

“Whatever you want,” Arthur said, and Merlin was careful to keep a little bit of space this time as he found the right chapter.

*

Merlin definitely liked Arthur, Merlin decided as he sat in class, listening to the droning lecturer and trying not to think about how close Arthur’s arm was on the arm rest. The problem, of course, was that he and Arthur were friends, and Merlin had seen what happened when people tried to go from friends to more than that. It almost never worked out. And he liked Arthur too much to lose that.

It was hard enough for Merlin to make friends. He didn’t want to lose any.

“Did he just say, ‘Big business is for losers’?” Arthur whispered, leaning into Merlin’s space.

“I think he said ‘closers,’” Merlin replied. He wasn’t taking notes today, too distracted by everything. This wasn’t going to work if he was always thinking about Arthur and what they weren’t.

By the end of class, Merlin was sure he hadn’t absorbed a word of what the professor had said. He emerged from the hall, blinking in the bright grey of the sky. For once, it wasn’t raining, but it was icy cold, his breath puffing before him.

“That class is good for one thing,” Arthur said as they walked. “A nap.”

“It’s an eight AM class.”

“Extend your night then.”

They headed across the lawn, shivering in the cold.

“There’s a rugby match this weekend,” Arthur said, rubbing his hands together. “Are you gonna come?”

Merlin hesitated. He wanted to come, to see Arthur, but a part of him knew it would be a bad idea. But Gwaine would probably be there, and there was a whole match to distract him, so he shrugged.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Then I’ll see you there,” Arthur said, squeezing Merlin’s arm, a beat too long before they parted on the lawn and Arthur headed south.

Merlin watched him go, until he was just a dot in the distance. His arm felt hot where Arthur had touched it and he shook it sharply. He couldn’t focus on what this wasn’t. He had to focus on what it was.

That was what he told himself as he turned the other direction anyway.

*

Gwaine and Percy were snogging not five feet away, on the edge of the field, and Merlin turned away as Arthur jogged over to him. His shirt was still clean, the match not quite started yet.

“They’re disgusting, aren’t they?” Merlin asked, nodding at Gwaine and Percy.

Arthur laughed. “Completely. You better get going if you want a good seat.”

Merlin glanced back at the half-filled stands. “Guess I should. Good luck with the match.”

“You still don’t know anything about rugby, do you?”

“No,” Merlin admitted. “Just that you play.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you.” Arthur smirked. “I’ll see you after, okay?”

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed, swallowing down the nerves rising in him again.

Arthur patted his shoulder gently before turning to Percy. “Perce, come on. Stop snogging your boyfriend and get on the field.”

Percy had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed as he and Gwaine separated. They headed out to the team and Gwaine and Merlin turned to the stands.

“Guess things are working out with Percy,” Merlin said as they sat down, and Gwaine grinned. 

“They certainly are.”

Merlin turned to the field, watching Arthur talking to the team. Merlin wanted someone to snog. He and Gilli had only lasted a few months before he’d realized that he and Gilli were way too similar to actually work. He hadn’t kissed anyone since then. Well, except Arthur, but that didn’t really count.

The match started, and Merlin tried to think of anything other than Arthur, though it was pretty difficult considering he was watching Arthur tackle blokes and get all muddy.

“Yeah, Percy!” Gwaine yelled beside him whenever Percy did something Merlin assumed was good, like got the ball or tackled someone bigger than him.

Merlin still wasn’t sure what happened, but he took Gwaine’s word when he said they didn’t win despite all the cheering for Percy. The team wasn’t nearly as happy when Merlin met Arthur on the field.

“I thought you played well,” he said, and Arthur shook his head.

“Can’t win every game, but that doesn’t make it feel better.”

Merlin was terrible at comforting people. He grimaced. “We could go to a pub, get sloshed. Forget this match ever happened.”

“I’d rather just go home if you…” Arthur trailed off as a guy stepped up to Merlin. Merlin thought he’d been in the stands. He definitely looked familiar with his dark curly hair and bright blue eyes.

“Hey, good game,” the guy said to Arthur, but he was fidgeting nervously as he turned to Merlin. “You’re Merlin, right? I’m Mordred. We have Philosophy together.”

“Oh, yeah,” Merlin said. “I think I’ve seen you.”

Mordred smiled, nervous. “Yeah, um, I was wondering, this is probably weird, but I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go out some time?”

Merlin stared for a second, glancing back at Arthur, who was frowning.

“I, uh,” he said, floundering. “Yeah, yeah. Sure.” The only way to get over his stupid crush on Arthur was to go out with someone else, right? “Yeah, we could do that.”

Mordred broke into a wide smile. “Great. I’ll message you, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Merlin agreed, his heart battering in his chest, anxious this time. He turned back to Arthur, but to his surprise, Arthur wasn’t there.

He wasn’t anywhere on the field, and Merlin frowned. Arthur must have wanted to shower and get out of those muddy clothes. 

Turning back, Merlin shrugged. Merlin had a date. A real date. See, Gwaine, he could completely tell when people were hitting on him.

*

“There you are,” Gwaine said as he entered the flat, tossing his keys on the counter. “Where have you been? Arthur wasn’t at the pub.”

“You’ll never guess what happened,” Merlin said, feeling more than slightly proud of himself as he watched Gwaine round the couch and sit down.

“You finally screwed.”

Merlin’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? No. I got asked out on a date.”

For a second, Gwaine only stared at him. “Sorry?”

“A date,” Merlin repeated. “You of all people should know what that is.”

“No, I know what it is, definitely. Who asked you out exactly?”

“This guy from my philosophy class.”

Gwaine was frowning at him in a way that made Merlin nervous. Gwaine should have been ecstatic. He was always complaining Merlin never dated.

“And you said yes,” Gwaine said, more of a statement than a question.

“Of course,” Merlin said, now frowning too. “Why aren’t you exited for me?”

Gwaine sat back on the couch, running both hands through his hair. “You didn’t tell Arthur, did you?”

“No, I mean, he was right there when it happened.”

“Oh my God,” Gwaine said, and Merlin stared. He didn’t see what the big deal was. “Oh my God, Merlin. Oh my God.”

“What?” he demanded. Was it so unbelievable that someone would ask him out?

Gwaine shook his head, gravely. “You shouldn’t have said yes.”

“Why not? You’re always complaining that I never go out or that I never know when someone is hitting on me. Well, someone did, so why shouldn’t I go?”

Was there some unspoken rule that Merlin wasn’t allowed to be happy? Was that written in the lease contract they’d signed on the flat?

“Because you’re already dating someone,” Gwaine said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Merlin stared, confused.

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you dolt. You’re dating Arthur!”

Merlin had no words for a whole minute as he tried to understand what Gwaine meant. He understood the words, just not together.

“What are you talking about?”

Gwaine groaned, rising from the couch and heading for the kitchen where he grabbed a beer from the fridge, muttering to himself. “I can’t believe this is happening. Two times in two years!”

Merlin perched himself over the back of the couch. “I’m not dating Arthur. We’re friends. We’ve never been on a date.” Where would Gwaine have even gotten that idea?

Gwaine leaned over the counter, shrugging sharply. “Well, where have you been?”

“I don’t know. Cafes, rugby matches, our flat.” Not exactly date places in Merlin’s opinion. He did those things with lots of other people too.

“And did he ever kiss you?” Gwaine asked, serious, setting the beer down with a clink.

Merlin opened his mouth but then hesitated. At Gwaine’s knowing look, he shook his head.

“Well, once, but we were drunk! He was drunk. I was drunk. It didn’t mean anything.”

It wasn’t fair, Gwaine assuming things simply because a kiss had happened.

“How can you be so dense, Merlin?”

Merlin bristled. “I really don’t appreciate when you say that.” Everyone assumed he was an idiot just because he didn’t always catch all the signs, just because he wasn’t as quick on the uptake of other people’s feelings. For sixteen years, he’d had the same best friend, and then he’d lost him overnight, with no warnings at all. He wasn’t sure how much trust he should put in other people’s actions.

Grabbing his beer, Gwaine sighed, coming back to the couch and sitting down. Merlin frowned at the cushion. “Okay, I’m sorry,” he said, and he seemed sincere, but Merlin didn’t forgive him just yet. “But you need things spelled out for you sometimes, and some people don’t know that, so they don’t say, ‘Hey, let’s go out.’ Instead, they invite you to matches and smile at you too much and find excuses to put their hand on your shoulder.”

Merlin’s stomach clenched. “How am I supposed to know that?”

Gwaine frowned this time. “I don’t know. But I do know that snogging in a pub is a pretty good indication someone likes you.”

“We were drunk,” Merlin reminded him. They were both drunk.

“Okay, that’s not what’s important here,” Gwaine said, waving away his concern. “The important thing is that I’m pretty sure Arthur likes you and thought you were involved, but now you’ve agreed to go on a date with some random guy, right in front of him. I don’t think that’s going to go over too well.”

Merlin groaned. How did these situations even happen? “So what am I supposed to do?”

Gwaine shrugged. “Do you even like Arthur?”

“Yes,” Merlin said, sinking into the couch. Maybe he could just stay here forever, never see Arthur again, fail his economics class, and just pretend none of this ever happened. “But now he’s going to think I don’t.”

“Seems to me your only options is to go talk to him.”

Merlin stared at Gwaine, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You, Gwaine, are actually suggesting talking as a solution to a problem?”

“What can I say, I’ve matured.”

Merlin scoffed, but he couldn’t deny that Gwaine had a point. Merlin was the one who had agreed to a date right in front of Arthur. He had some explaining to do, even if this wasn’t completely his fault. Or maybe it was since he apparently could not read any signs.

“Fine,” he said, pushing himself up. This wasn’t going to be fun, but he didn’t want Arthur to hate him forever. “I’ll go.”

“Good luck,” Gwaine said as Merlin reluctantly pulled on his jacket and headed out the door. No fun at all.

*

Merlin had never actually been to Arthur’s flat, and it was much nicer than Merlin’s, or at least, the front door was. Merlin hadn’t quite convinced himself to knock on it yet. He was going to have to admit that he was an idiot, that Arthur could have literally told him he liked him and Merlin still wouldn’t have figured it out.

He could do this, he told himself, curling his hand into a fist and raising it to the door. He knocked twice, forcing his hand to move before he could talk himself out of it.

The door opened a second later and Morgana stood there. She was even more beautiful than Merlin remembered, but then she smirked and he wasn’t so sure.

“Merlin,” she said, drawing out his name, almost like it was a curse. “Come in.”

“Is Arthur here?” Merlin asked, nervous again as he stepped inside the flat. Arthur and Morgana’s flat was twice of Merlin’s though not any tidier, at least.

“He’s here,” Morgana assured him, leading him into the living room. “Arthur! You have a visitor.”

“I told you, Morgana,” came Arthur’s voice from a bedroom. “I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

“You’ll want to talk to this one,” she replied, voice sugary sweet.

Merlin’s heart pounded with each footstep of Arthur’s as he strode to the bedroom door and yanked it open. Whatever he’d been about to say apparently died on his lips as he caught sight of Merlin.

“What are you doing here?” Arthur demanded, and Merlin took a fortifying breath. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“I think I’ll just pop out for some pastries,” Morgana said from behind them. “Any preferences?”

No one replied to her and she grabbed her coat from a rack near the door. 

“Try not to get blood on the carpet, boys.”

The door shut behind her, leaving only tense silence. Arthur didn’t move from his doorway, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow.

Merlin;s stomach was churning like the ocean as he stood there, trying to find the right words to start off with, but they didn’t seem to be coming.

“This is going to sound really dumb,” Merlin said finally, and Arthur didn’t react. “But I didn’t know we were dating.”

Arthur’s eyebrows furrowed, arms tight over his chest. “What?”

Merlin swallowed. “I thought we were just friends, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that by telling you that I liked you, so when Mordred asked me out, I said yes.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Arthur said, voice hard.

Merlin didn’t know how to explain it any better. “Sometimes, I don’t get things unless they’re really obvious. My last boyfriend, we were dating for three weeks before I got it.”

Arthur didn’t reply for a long minute, but he did drop his arms. “We kissed, though. What did you think that was?”

“I thought we were drunk,” Merlin admitted, grimacing away from Arthur. He already felt bad enough that he couldn’t even tell when people liked him. “It’s not like you ever did it again.”

Arthur threw up his hands. “You’re a private person. I thought you didn’t want to snog in front of other people, so I didn’t.”

“Oh my God, I am an idiot,” Merlin muttered, shaking his head. Gwaine was right. He was going to end up alone with a bunch of cats. “Why can I not see these things?”

Arthur’s expression softened and he took a step towards him. “You’re not an idiot, Merlin. Some people are like that. Maybe I should have been more obvious.”

Merlin scoffed. He didn’t feel much better. If he’d just seen the signs, they wouldn’t be in this mess. He wouldn’t have agreed to go out with Mordred.

“What’s more obvious than snogging?” he muttered, looking up as Arthur stepped into his space. Arthur didn’t look angry now, hands on Merlin’s arms.

“How about this,” he said quietly. “Merlin, will you go out with me instead of that stupid philosophy kid?”

Merlin’s heart lifted at Arthur’s words and he smiled as those annoying fluttering butterflies burst into his stomach again. “I didn’t want to go out with him anyway.”

“So that’s a yes?” Arthur asked, moving his hands to Merlin’s waist, tugging him in closer.

“Yes,” Merlin said firmly. “I’ll go out with you.”

Arthur’s face split into a smile, and Merlin leaned into him.

“Wait,” he said, pulling back as Arthur moved towards him. “You’re not drunk right now, are you?”

Arthur shook his head. “No.” And he kissed Merlin.

It was better when they weren’t drunk, Merlin decided, curling into Arthur, lips pressed together, Arthur’s tongue sliding in his mouth. He may not have been able to read the signs, he decided as Arthur hauled him onto the couch and climbed over him, but he could still get to the final destination, and that was all that mattered.

*

FIN.


End file.
